Monday, August 20, 2012

Sources of Inspiration

I wanted to share a bit with you about the inspiration for this design.
Last December, my friend Carson and I saw an exhibition of Anatolian kelims at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco. These tribal weaving were amazing, packed with complex geometric and figurative motifs in a riot of colors.
The oldest example in the collection was just a fragment of a 15th century kelim in only two colors - natural and a faded tomato red (madder, maybe? Name That Dye is not a game at which I excel). I loved the interplay of positive and negative space, and the way the interlocking spear shapes were edged with little bubbles. The bold graphic seemed surprisingly modern for a textile more than 600 years old. Carson and I agreed that it begged to be reinterpreted in knitting. I pulled out my camera and sneaked a picture.

Even though the photo is of such poor quality, it was a fairly simple matter to import it into Illustrator and trace the motifs. Overlay a grid, and it starts to look suspiciously like a knitting chart.

Here is my original swatch, made with some Cascade 220 I had on hand. Yes, I do tend to make hats as swatches for color patterns. Such patterns are easiest for me when knit in the round, and hats make good class samples, or can be donated to organizations like Halos of Hope if not needed. I love the contrast in these Gryffindor colors.

For the magazine, we chose a thinner yarn, Romney Ridge Farms Sport Weight. This is a great yarn for colorwork. Grown in Maine, it is a nice "sticky" wool that knits easily and blocks into a beautifully cohesive fabric. The hand dyed colors have subtle variations that give the pattern extra depth and interest.

While you are looking at the magazine, don't miss my article about shaping in pattern. Many knitters struggle with maintaining lace and cable patterns while shaping armholes and necklines. The article takes you step by step through the process.

Old textiles are a great source of inspiration, particularly for colorwork. The landscape that surrounds us can also serve as the spark for great ideas.

These vines are full of grapes about 6 weeks from harvest. They've already shifted from green to purple, and are getting sweeter with every sunny day.

This is the view outside Roche Winery, where I spent the past 2 weekends pouring wine for their annual futures release BBQ event. My former husband works for Roche in sales. When they need an extra person for special events, they invite me to come play. Buying wine futures is like making an investment in the winery. You get a substantial discount by purchasing the wine before it's bottled, sometimes while it's still on the vine. Roche rewards these "investors" by throwing a great party when the wine is ready to be delivered. Leg of Lamb is cooked over a fire fueled by broken up old wine barrels. A great band plays classic rock and roll for dancing. And the full lineup of wine is available for tasting. I worked all 4 days in the tasting room, pouring and chatting.

I'm really grateful for the opportunity to do occasional work like this. Most of my weekends are indistinguishable from a weekday - I spend the day at my desk writing or editing patterns, and the evening knitting. It's a pretty sedentary, not to mention solitary, life. It's good for me to spend a couple of days on my feet interacting with people and working with a team.